Seventh seed Jasmine Paolini has advanced to the Wimbledon finals after defeating Donna Vekic in the longest semifinal in the tournament’s history on Thursday. Paolini triumphed over Vekic with a score of 2-6, 6-4, 7-6[8] in a match lasting two hours and 51 minutes, making her the first Italian woman to reach the finals of the competition in the Open Era.
The previous record for the longest Wimbledon semifinal was set in 2009, when Serena Williams defeated Elena Dementieva 6-7(4), 7-5, 8-6.
Having recently finished as the runner-up to Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros, Paolini has now reached her second major final. She is the first player since Serena Williams in 2016 to make it to the finals of both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same season. Paolini joins an elite group of players who have achieved this feat in the past 25 years, including Stefanie Graf (1999), Serena Williams (2002, 2015, 2016), Venus Williams (2002), and Justine Henin (2006).
Paolini held her first match point at 5-4 during the third set and a second at 6-5. She ultimately edged out Vekic in a gripping tie-break, securing her third win in four matches against the Croatian, who managed 42 winners during the match.
Before 2024, Paolini had never won a grass match at tour-level. She now boasts a record of eight wins and one loss on the surface, with her sole defeat coming against Daria Kasatkina in the Eastbourne semifinals two weeks ago. This move to the finals ensures Paolini will make her top five debut in the WTA Rankings next week.
In her post-match interview, Paolini acknowledged the difficulty of the match against Vekic.
“She was playing unbelievably, hitting winners everywhere. I was struggling at the beginning. I told myself to fight for every ball and try to improve on the court, because I was serving really badly,” she said, as quoted by the WTA website. “This match I will remember forever,” Paolini exclaimed.
